Anoka County might leave influential lobbying group

To the dismay of two of its board members, Anoka County is considering cutting ties with an influential county lobbying group.

At the urging of Chair Rhonda Sivarajah, county commissioners will vote Tuesday, Jan. 8, on whether to discontinue its long-standing membership with the Minnesota Inter-County Association.

Sivarajah says the organization's $77,000 dues aren't cost-effective, particularly as the county looks to reduce expenses. Two other board members say that reason doesn't add up and that Anoka County stands to lose important lobbying power by bowing out of the organization.

"We are quitting for only one reason, and it's not money," said County Commissioner Jim Kordiak. "We are quitting because one of our (former) county staff was pushed away from county government and that person now works for MICA."

That individual is Steve Novak, a longtime legislator who worked as a governmental services division manager for Anoka County before retiring in September. The county has since eliminated his position.

He did not respond to calls for comment.

Novak clashed with Sivarajah while lobbying for a new Vikings stadium in Blaine, an initiative the current chair strongly opposed.

He was hired by MICA in September as the organization's transportation and capital budget lobbyist.

The organization employs four lobbyists to push issues important to the association's 13 members, which include nearly all Minnesota's largest counties minus Hennepin and Ramsey, which dropped out in the 1990s.

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Before Novak was hired, the association's executive director Keith Carlson said, Anoka County's administrator called to express concerns about bringing him on.

Novak was ultimately hired anyway because of his qualifications, Carlson said.

"They did identify concerns, but I'm not sure what effect, if any, they are having on this decision... I have to take the board chair at face-value that this is about economics," Carlson said.

And it is, Sivarajah insists.

"For me (Novak) is really not relevant in this decision," Sivarajah said. "This is about continually looking at how we spend taxpayer resources and making sure we get a good value... I don't think we're getting a $77,000 value."

A QUESTION OF DUES

MICA is one of more than 60 lobbying and policy-making groups of which Anoka County is a member, according to county administrator Jerry Soma.

Dues paid to all of them totals about $450,000 a year.

The most expensive are the Minnesota Inter-County Association and the Association of Minnesota Counties, which costs $43,000 in annual dues compared to MICA's $77,000.

Board members also will vote Tuesday on severing ties with AMC, but several people said that's unlikely to happen.

Unlike MICA, all 87 counties in Minnesota are involved in the organization, which goes beyond lobbying and allows members' affiliation with many subsidiary groups, Soma said. Plus it costs less, he added.

"There is more value there," Soma said.

The move to leave MICA would be in line with other county decisions to spend less on lobbying, Soma said. The county recently reduced its lobbyists from 1.5 to 1, for example.

Lobbying power won't be lost because several Anoka County commissioners have expressed willingness to do their own bidding, Soma said

TO STAY OR TO GO

Commissioner Matt Look said it makes sense to consider cutting MICA.

"When you're talking about that much money, you have to look at which (organizations) are proving to be beneficial," Look said. "Sometimes the position of these larger groups can be diametrically opposed to the goals of your county."

Look said he couldn't recall specific times MICA has taken a stance contrary to Anoka County but said he's heard rumors Novak is against fiscal disparity, a tax-based sharing program in which Anoka County is a big winner.

Carlson called that notion, "ridiculous," saying Novak never has nor would lobby against the program.

Commissioner Carol LeDoux said she doesn't buy the economics argument.

"Do the math. (MICA) has four lobbyists working for us; that's about $19,000 per person," she said.

She added that the timing to consider leaving so soon after Novak was hired is concerning, but said the bigger concern is the impact the separation will have on the county.

"It would be dangerous for us not to have the strategic alliances we've gained and enjoyed through MICA, especially now," LeDoux said. "We have a Democratic governor, Democratic house and a Democratic senate. We need as many voices as we can get singing from our song sheet right now."

Kordiak said the move would "isolate (Anoka County) from its peers in the metro area."

Those affiliated with MICA said its strength is that it unites similarly sized counties that have similar issues, as opposed to the Association of Minnesota Counties, which represents everyone.

Saying the decision was up to the board. Anoka County's lobbyist Kathy Tingelstad said leaving MICA would hamper the county's ability to collaborate and build coalitions around common interests.

Both LeDoux and Kordiak predicted Sivarajah had enough votes to end the membership Tuesday.

Regardless of Anoka's decision, MICA will remain "vital, active and strong," said Ken Brown, an Olmsted County commissioner and chair of the organization's board.

He pointed to its survival through other counties' decisions to come and go in years past.

The impact a departure would have on Anoka remains to be seen though, he said.

"They will lose a significant voice... it will not be part of the platform or get the emails or the updates. If they think they can keep up with all that as commissioners, God love them. I don't think I could," Brown said.